An Apple A Day
by Cherry Flavored
Summary: Ranma is sick and takes quite alot of medicine. Why did he take the "Chinese herbal remedy" offered to him by his father, someone everyone knows does not read Chinese? Could this lead to startling confessions?
1. Ranma is sick!

An Apple A Day  
  
By Cherry Flavored  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own.  
  
Warning: This story has nothing to do with apples. Just thought I should warn those apple-lovers out there, the title is misleading. It's about being sick. I repeat, no apples. Thank you.  
  
Part One: Ranma is sick! Never accept medicine from pandas.  
  
~  
  
Ranma was still not feeling well.  
  
He had been to see a doctor two days ago (a very good one, in fact, recommended by Dr. Tofu). Ranma had gotten some much-needed antibiotics, but he still felt weak- both mentally and physically.   
  
If there was anything Ranma hated, it was feeling weak. He felt sluggish and dizzy, which made him entirely too vulnerable.  
  
So, this morning, when Genma offered him some medicine he had cooked up (from an "ancient Chinese remedy" recipe, no less), he quickly took it instead of his prescribed medication. Hey, in the 6am mental state Ranma was in at the time, it seemed like a good idea.   
  
As it turns out, it was a bad idea. He had hardly any strength to do anything. He didn't even walk on the fence on the way to school because he genuinely could not get up there. He had been a zombie all day, lethargically staring into space.  
  
Which brings him to now, third period class, although it wasn't quite space he was staring at.  
  
Ranma's gaze was fixed on one Miss Akane Tendo, his finance. For some reason, today he gave into what he's wanted to do for quite some time- just look at her. She was within proper staring distance (just two desks ahead of him in the row to his left), but not so close that he couldn't play it off as him being an attentive listener to the class discussion. Just don't ask him a question, because he probably won't be able to form a coherent sentence.   
  
Blame the medicine.  
  
'Why do I have this sudden urge to speak with her?' he thought. Ranma had been feeling something… tugging at the back of his mind when ever he saw Akane today, as if there was something important he wanted to tell her. Why wouldn't the words form in his head, though? They obviously weren't forming from his mouth because his speech was so slurred he sounded drunk.  
  
'I wish I hadn't taken that weird medicine Pop gave me… I can't even think straight!' Ranma wished he could think of what he wanted to tell her. As he watched her eagerly take notes on the lecture, he started to think way too much. 'She does look kinda nice...' Ranma found himself musing. His eyes suddenly widened. 'Ah! No! Bad! Terrible! I didn't mean that!' he amended in his mind. 'That's right! Totally uncute…'   
  
Nevertheless, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. He wanted to talk to her now, and was getting impatient. He glanced at his watch. 'Twenty more minutes until lunch? I can't wait that long!' he thought. But then, Ranma got a plan… an evil plan, at that, which would make Akane real mad. But, it would serve its purpose.  
  
'Hey, I'm so sick, a mallet would be the least of my problems…'  
  
So, he slowly reached behind his head to grab his ponytail. He closed his eyes tight and prepared for the pain that would follow.  
  
He slowly pulled out one of the rubber bands that held his braid in place, yanking half of his hair from his scalp in the process. 'Ouch, that smarts!' Once his hair was free of the rubber band, the ponytail hung in a much more loose fashion, as it only had one rubber band to keep it together.  
  
Next, he held the rubber band between his left thumb and his right index finger, pulled back, and aimed. Target: Akane's shoulder. He closed one eye and bit on his tongue, then he let it fly.  
  
"Ouch!" Akane said, feeling a sudden sting of pain. She looked behind her and saw none other than Ranma forcing a look of innocence. "RANMA!"  
  
"Excuse me, Miss Tendo, Mister Saotome, we were attempting to have class, if that is quite alright with you two," the teacher said. "Go stand in the hall."  
  
Akane was about to protest, but she decided she was not going to get more punishment. But Ranma, oh boy, was he ever going to! How dare he? 'I suppose he takes some sort of pleasure at getting me in trouble!' she thought accusingly.  
  
Akane grabbed a water bucket from the corner and went outside into the hallway. Ranma did the same thing, but a lot slower. He also kept bumping into things, which the class found very amusing.  
  
Akane watched him struggling from the hallway and genuinely felt bad for him. 'Should I go help him?' she thought. She went against that idea because she in no way wanted her friends to get the wrong idea. 'He can take care of himself…' she thought bitterly. But she was still kind of worried.  
  
Once Ranma made it into the hallway and had shut the door behind him, Akane walked up to him. "Ranma, are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, I'm fine…" he slurred, although not really meaning it.  
  
"Good!" she said, her attitude changing. She pulled her bucket of water back, ready to strike. "Cause I wanna know what possessed you to hit me!" she yelled.  
  
"Wait…" he said, breathing hard. "It's… not… what you think…" he panted.  
  
"Really?" she said, trying to keep up her anger. Seeing Ranma like this was not exactly helping, though. He looked really bad.  
  
"I just… wanted to… talk… to you…" he said. Ranma suddenly remembered something. He reached into the pockets of his black Chinese pants and pulled out two white pills. He'd stuffed a couple of his real antibiotics into his pocket that morning so he could take them on the way to school. But then his pop offered him the "miracle drug", so he forgot them.  
  
He held up his hand to Akane telling her to hold on. He pulled up his pail of water to his face and popped the pills in. Akane, meanwhile, was wondering what the heck he was doing. First he hits her in class and gets her in trouble, then he says he doesn't mean it, and now he's taking pills with the water they were supposed to be holding as a punishment.  
  
"Ranma, what are you…" Akane started, but Ranma held up his hand again as he chugged down some water. He winced at the taste of the school's tap water.  
  
"I was tryin' to… take my medicine… I was hoping it would… help..." he said.  
  
"I doesn't seem like it's helping, Ranma. Why did you come to school today?" she asked.  
  
"Akane… I wanted to ask you… something…" he said, trying to think of exactly why he had wanted to talk to her in the first place. But before he could finish, his eyes rolled back in his head.  
  
Akane gasped loudly as Ranma fell to the floor.  
  
~  
  
Hi all, it's me! Cherry. Come one, you know me… I wrote… well, actually, this is my first Ranma fic, so I guess you don't know me! I've pretty much kept to the Gundam Wing side of the fence, so I guess you could say I'm branching out. Way to go me.  
  
Anyway, this story is going to be short… just a few chapters. Nothing big, it's just me passing the time until I remember what I was going to write on Highbridge (my big GW fic) before my computer broke.   
  
By the way, anyone who's reading Highbridge… I promise I'm coming back over there; I'm working on Chapter 6 now! Sorrysorrysorry...   
  
My (new) email address is inrose@aminorglitch.com   
  
Chapter 2 will come soon: Ranma speaks with his sub-conscious… Hey, it looks familiar!  
  
-Cherry 


	2. He still doesn't get it!

An Apple A Day  
  
By Cherry Flavored  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own.  
  
Warning: In case you missed the first warning, there are no apples in this story. The title is misleading. This story is about something else. If you want to read fan fiction about apples, please check the fruit section, not the Ranma section.  
  
Part Two: He still doesn't get it! Ranma's inner-self speaks.  
  
~  
  
"Ahh!" Ranma yelled, gasping for air. He realized he was in water... endless water, in fact. There was no land in sight. He frantically paddled, attempting to stay afloat.   
  
Ranma got his balance and floated on the surface of the water. He closed his eyes and attempted to think. 'I remember… there's something I was supposed to do…' he reflected. 'Akane…'   
  
"Hey!" he suddenly exclaimed, in realization. He looked at himself. "I'm not a girl right now!"   
  
He looked upward, to the cloudless blue sky. "God, please tell me I'm swimming in Nannichuan…"   
  
A figure slowly appeared, floating in the air. "You wish!"  
  
"Ahh!" Ranma said again. He lost all balance and frantically flailed his arms to keep from drowning.  
  
"What…? You're… me!" Ranma said with a puzzled expression.  
  
Ranma was right- it was him, only in girl form. But this Ranma was floating in mid-air, and giggling. "You don't know how right you are!"  
  
Ranma groaned. "Don't tell me you're Jiminy Cricket or somethin'," he said.   
  
"That's right. I'm you on the inside!" she said.  
  
Ranma was suddenly furious. "You mean I really AM a girl on the inside?!" He choked on quite a bit of water.  
  
"No, no… I just took this form so we could be distinguishable," she said. She took a mock-solemn face, leaned over, and punched him on the shoulder playfully. "You're pure-man on the inside, champ."  
  
"Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically. He swam around for a minute or two before speaking up. "So anyway, this is a dream, right?"  
  
"More or less. I just had to intervene so I could fill you in on a few things."  
  
"Oh, of course," Ranma said in the same sardonic tone. "Time for my lesson?"  
  
"Yep!" she said. She took in a deep breath.  
  
"First of all, never mix medications again. Wait, on second thought, don't get sick at all. It doesn't work for you." She stopped her 'lesson' to think of what to say next. "Let me tell ya, you've got some weird times ahead of you," she laughed.  
  
"Why do I get the feeling I won't like this?" Ranma asked. His head started filling with the possibilities of future disasters. Ranma-chan shook her head.  
  
"Oh no, you'll like it…" she said, looking away with the fake-innocent face Ranma was famous for.  
  
"What's that 'posed to mean?!" Ranma said, gargling salt water again.  
  
Ranma-chan ignored him. "Second…" she began, but couldn't finish.  
  
"Look, um, Conscience-guy… er, Conscience-girl… Well, whatever, this is creeping me out," Ranma said. "I can't talk to myself! Much less take advice from ME… It's just too weird…"  
  
Ranma-chan sighed and smiled knowingly. "O-kay Ranma…" She disappeared into thin air.  
  
Ranma exhaled and silently wondered where Ranma-chan had gone.  
  
"Saotome!" came a shout from behind him. Ranma turned around to find himself face to face with a pair of fangs.  
  
"If you won't be a man and be honest with your woman, you'll NEVER BE HAPPY!"   
  
A sweat drop slid down Ranma's forehead. "Ryoga?!"   
  
Ryoga smirked. "That's right, you asked for it! You don't like talkin' to yourself, then you'll have to deal with me!"  
  
"Ugh…" Ranma said as he rolled his eyes in defeat. "So, what's the moral of the story?"  
  
Conscience-Ryoga looked very unimpressed with Ranma. "You must tell her the truth, just like I said."  
  
"Tell… what?" Ranma asked in confusion, refusing to come to the conclusion that was now forming in his head. "You don't mean…" he trailed off, as if he forgot what to say.  
  
"How pathetically stupid… You are not the adversary I thought you were," Ryoga said as he disappeared.  
  
"Not again…" Ranma said. He yelled in frustration. "Tell what to who? Ryoga! Me! Come back, somebody!" He sighed in defeat. He knew he was being stubborn, and one particular face kept popping into his head.  
  
Ukyo appeared next to Ranma in the water. Okay, that's not the face he had pictured. Ranma flinched at first, thinking she was going to jump him, as usual.   
  
But she didn't.   
  
"Ran-chan, have you ever heard the phrase 'everything happens for a reason'?" she asked.  
  
"Why?"  
  
She rested her elbow on his shoulder. As she spoke, she stared into the distance. "There's a reason you're laying on a bed sick right now, honey. Divine intervention is what they call it, I believe. This is so clear, Mousse could see it."   
  
She faded as the others did.  
  
Ranma knew. He can fake ignorance as long as he wanted, but at the end of the day, Ranma only thought about one person…  
  
"You're really that dense, aren't you?" came a voice from behind Ranma. He spun in the water to see the very last image of his dream.  
  
"Akane…"  
  
~  
  
"Ugh…"  
  
Ranma awoke quietly and opened his eyes very slowly. He felt the wonderful warm spring breeze sweep in from an open window.  
  
Ranma realized he was in the nurse's office, lying on the bed.  
  
He was facing the window, watching the cherry blossoms float to the ground in the wind. It was such a beautiful Japanese scene.  
  
A single pink petal from the outside fluttered through the window and onto Ranma's nose. Ranma tried to move his nose from side to side, but it didn't fall off. Finally, he twitched so much that he sneezed.  
  
*A-choo!*  
  
"Ranma?"   
  
Ranma's eyes widened. He slowly turned over in the bed to face none other that Akane, with Nabiki looking over her shoulder. Ranma blushed at the sight of his fiancé.   
  
"Ranma, are you okay?" Akane asked.   
  
"He looks a little red, Akane. Maybe he has a fever," Nabiki noted.  
  
Ranma thought for a moment. Come to think of it, he felt a bit better. That was good. He sat up straight in bed.  
  
"I feel fine," he said, although not perfectly healed. He looked at Akane. He tried to open his mouth, but words failed him just like before- although this time, it was for a different reason. He wanted to leave the room; he didn't think he could come up with something good to say to her.  
  
"I'm going for a walk," he stated plainly.  
  
He got up and headed for the door, and was gone before either Tendo could open her mouth.  
  
~End of 2.  
  
Hi again. This is chapter 2. Woop-de-doo… Just kidding. I tried to not rush this chapter as much as I did with the first chapter.   
  
Next chapter: What's going on with Kuno? Well, something like this was bound to happen!  
  
Email me! inrose@aminorglitch.com 


	3. You're kidding!

An Apple A Day  
  
By Cherry Flavored   
  
Disclaimer: Don't own.   
  
Note: This story can be thoroughly enjoyed to its fullest extent if you pop in an R/A song like "The Ballad of Ranma and Akane". I listened to the great (and hilarious) "Konya wa April Fools" as I wrote it… so that's just in case you wanted to know. Oh yeah, I don't own those songs either. Or the apples.   
  
Part Three: You're kidding! Something like this was bound to happen…  
  
~  
  
Ranma quickly headed for the exit. He wasn't about to stick around in the nurse's office when he had so many thoughts to sort through. He reached the front door of the school and slipped around the corner of the building.  
  
Ranma continued to stroll through the trees that lined the side of the school building. He absent-mindedly kicked the stray cherry blossom petals that were forming in piles on the ground as he walked. He paused, a sudden thought forming in his brain.  
  
'It's these stupid pills… I just know it… By tomorrow, I'll be just as good as new! I'll take my regular medicine and I'll get to feeling better and I'll fight with Akane and everything…' he thought, trying to reassure himself. 'All of this will be gone…'  
  
But for some reason, today, he didn't want to feel better, or fight. He had the same feelings earlier in class when he wanted to talk to Akane for some strange reason… When he wanted to look at her, too…  
  
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!!" he screamed. He felt confused, and yet… like he was doing the right thing for once. He felt none of the guilt that usually plagues him. His brain had a big "red alert" sign going off, and it was telling him he was crazy and you should never let your conscience be your guide and Akane was nothing but a stupid tomboy and he was nothing that deserved her...  
  
His brain was spinning in circles; it was like a war inside of his head.  
  
Suddenly, though, it all came to a stop when…  
  
"Ranma?" came a voice from behind.  
  
He spun on his heal to see his fiancé looking at him like he was crazy.  
  
Which, right now, Ranma considered himself to be so.   
  
"Are you feeling better, or were you lying?" Akane asked.  
  
Ranma sighed. "Neither…"  
  
Akane pursed her lips. "Fine then," she said firmly as she started to turn and leave.  
  
"No! Wait…" Ranma said. He didn't realize it, but he grabbed her arm to stop her. Akane blushed, and then Ranma followed suit.  
  
"What's your problem?" Akane asked, pulling her arm away angrily but still blushing.  
  
"I… I'm sorry, Akane," he began, hitting the top of his shoe against the ground nervously. "Pop gave me some medicine, and it screwed with my head a bit…"  
  
"Oh…" Akane said, somewhat disappointed. "So you didn't want to talk to me?"  
  
"Well, no. I mean, yes. I mean… I don't know. That's just the problem…" he said with an exasperated breath. "I have no clue what I think right now… All I know is that I was sitting in class and I wanted to talk to you for some reason and there's no way to explain that except for the fact that I thought you looked nice today and how often do I think THAT, after all, so maybe that's a sure tell that I'm cracking up or maybe it just says that I really do think that?"  
  
Akane blinked. "Huh?"  
  
Ranma's face got even redder. "Akane I…"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
Ranma thought for a moment. Then he made the mistake of looking at Akane- in the eyes.  
  
As if in a trance, he said, "I think Ryoga was right…"  
  
"What?" Akane asked. "When did Ryoga get here? I thought he was lost… Remember? The last time we heard from him he was in Sapporo…"  
  
Then, they came out. Words that hit Akane like a bus in the street.  
  
"Akane, I'm in love with you."  
  
~  
  
"So, Mr. Saotome, did everything work out? I'm still not sure why you had me do this… But I'm always happy to help an employee!" Dr. Tofu said happily.  
  
Genma opened his mouth, but the muffled animal sounds that came out were ones beyond Dr. Tofu's level of comprehension.  
  
Panda-sign: Hold one moment, if you please.  
  
Genma-panda left the room, and after the shower was heard come on for a brief period of time, he returned as a man.  
  
He looked at Tofu solemnly. "Doctor, I used it on Ranma."  
  
Dr. Tofu looked at him with a mix of surprise and question. Then an idea hit him, and he realized. "So, this is a matter of impatience, huh? Sir, you are aware that the herbs can only entice the truth out of the patient, not change their minds, right?"  
  
"You obviously don't know my son very well," he said with a chuckle.   
  
~  
  
"If you squirm again, I won't hesitate to hit you," Nabiki said in a trademark deadpan.  
  
"Nabiki Tendo, you have not the slightest idea of the pain I'm in!" Kuno fussed. He winced as Nabiki applied simple hydrogen peroxide on his forehead with some cotton.   
  
Kuno had carelessly allowed a stray discus thrown from the track field to hit him in the head as he pondered the meaning of life… and among other things, Akane and the pig tail goddess. He had a nice gash in his forehead… but nothing serious.  
  
Nabiki rolled her eyes. She was almost finished with Kuno's bandage when she heard a call come from the head nurse.  
  
"Nabiki, has Akane brought Ranma Saotome back up yet?" she yelled as she attended to a wounded soccer player.  
  
Nabiki bit her lip as she pressed some tape to Kuno's bandage. "No, ma'am…"  
  
Kuno suddenly perked up. "What? My Akane with that wretch? The nerve of that man…"  
  
As Kuno steamed, Nabiki sighed. "Chill out, Kuno-baby. I can assure you, Ranma is not doing anything inappropriate. She went to bring him back up after he ran off, that's all, okay?"  
  
She finished with her work, and let out a yawn. "Alright, you're done."   
  
Kuno touched his "battle scar" and shrugged. "I suppose you did an adequate job, Nabiki Tendo."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," she said. Before Kuno could get up to leave, Nabiki couldn't resist. She whacked him in the back of the head with her palm, and then exited with an evil laugh.  
  
~  
  
Akane couldn't help herself. She had, subconsciously, been waiting for this moment for such a long time… it seemed too good to be true.  
  
SLAP! Ranma's face was left with Akane's trademark handprint colored in bright red on his cheek.  
  
Ranma snapped out of whatever mental state had brought him to the level of actually confessing to Akane, and rubbed the side of his face.  
  
Without words, Ranma turned to walk off, seeing his obvious mistake. He wasn't angry. He wasn't sad. He was suddenly empty.  
  
Akane's heart sank. That was an accident!   
  
"Ranma!" she yelled. "Don't… Please don't leave."  
  
He turned, and she was suddenly closer.   
  
Ranma didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to say; it was as if he went mute when Akane hit him.  
  
"You can't walk away now… It's too late for that," she said. "I'm sorry for hitting you..." she whispered as she drew closer to Ranma, "But I think my sanity left with yours…"  
  
Ranma came out of his verbal cage for only a moment. "I know what you mean…"  
  
He touched her face gingerly, and then it was all over. The walls, the anger… everything from the past, except the feeling that they weren't alone. That feeling stayed, as the proverbial chemistry between the two was sparked.  
  
Actually, it was more like set ablaze.  
  
Ranma pressed his lips to Akane's… and life was the way it was supposed to be.  
  
Finally.  
  
~  
  
Kuno wasn't happy with his injury. But, the warm spring day really got to him, and he soon lightened up. He looked at the beautiful cherry trees and felt the breeze in his hair. He headed for the kendo building with a smile. He turned the corner and took a deep breath.  
  
"Yes, why shouldn't I be happy on such a placid day as this one? The birds are singing! The air is rich with the fertile spring winds! There is love all around!"  
  
He marched on, enjoying everything he saw. He then spotted something that made him proud of his observations.  
  
"Ah, see? There's a lovely young couple… How sweet…" he said, and headed onward.  
  
Kuno suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.   
  
~  
  
Akane didn't want to breathe. She was afraid that if she broke away from Ranma, even for a second, he would disappear like a dream.   
  
At this point, Akane was so lost in Ranma's touch, she didn't need oxygen.  
  
Ranma felt likewise. He didn't know why he was suddenly being so honest with himself and with Akane, but he didn't want it to stop… Tomorrow he would probably dismiss this as a dream, but for now…  
  
Ranma heard strange mumbling from behind him, but that had no affect. He laced his fingers through Akane's short air… and just as their kiss became deeper…   
  
Akane wrapped her arms around Ranma and pulled closer to him, and just as their kiss became deeper…  
  
"RANMA SAOTOME!!!!"  
  
~  
  
'It couldn't be… could it…?'  
  
Kuno was in a rage. Nabiki Tendo was VERY wrong, Saotome WAS doing something to HIS Akane and it was definitely something NOT GOOD.   
  
"RANMA SAOTOME!!!!" he yelled. That imbecile was to die to today, by the sword of Tatewaki Kuno… and he would show NO mercy!!!  
  
This was truly a dark, dark day for Kuno.  
  
~  
  
Ranma and Akane jumped away from each other as if lightening had struck.  
  
No, not lightening. The Blue Thunder.  
  
Ranma saw him now, approaching at a speed unreal for the likes of Kuno. All Ranma could do was dodge the blade of Kuno's sword as it missed and made a hole in the wall of the school building.  
  
"What were you doing to Akane?!" he yelled. There was no possible way for him to keep his anger in control and show the composure he thought a proper swordsman should posses.   
  
"I… I…" Ranma stuttered. In all actuality, Ranma was still shaken from the kiss. He had suddenly gone from one of the most wonderful feelings he'd ever experienced to a state of fear.  
  
Akane stepped in front of Ranma. "Kuno, he did nothing wrong. Back off!"  
  
"What's this? He's brainwashed you, my dear Akane?"   
  
Akane and Ranma both simultaneously rolled their eyes.  
  
"I CAN NOT accept this! You will pay for the crimes you have committed, Saotome! NO ONE TOUCHES AKANE LIKE THAT!!!" he screamed.  
  
As if he had yelled it directly into the ear of every citizen of Nerima, Kuno's voice echoed and traveled with the breeze.   
  
In the blink of an eye, there they were. Every student of Furikan High suddenly appeared as if they had teleported in from their lunch break. They went into fits of gasps, whispers, and (for those that were friends with the pair) laughter.  
  
Ranma looked around nervously. He could fight Kuno and face the rumors of every pupil at the school, or he could do the technique that his father, Akane's father, and Happosai had worked so hard to help him perfect.   
  
Run.  
  
Ranma grabbed Akane by the wrist and was to the school gates before Kuno could ever get a chance to slash his sword again.  
  
~  
  
Ranma finally slowed down when he and Akane were three blocks away, almost to the dojo. He paused to catch his breath.  
  
Akane was the first one to speak, in between her detached breathing.   
  
"So… what just happened back there?"  
  
~  
  
End of three.  
  
Okay, I didn't die. Hallelujah. Anyway, this one was very long. Sorry to keep everyone waiting.  
  
Next up: Epilogue… What DID exactly happen? Will Ranma and Akane be able to brush this off so easily? 


End file.
